


Red

by Ferkawa_08



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 08:02:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27347842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ferkawa_08/pseuds/Ferkawa_08
Summary: Mihawk hates red.He loves red but only on one person.That person being Shanks.Dracule Mihawk runs away from home to end up attacked by a demon on an unknown island.Crocodile always made sure to prevent demons. Never did the witch ever imagine she’d find a half dead man in her living room.A man attacked by a demon no less.“Shit.”“The hell am I supposed to do now?”Go on adventure that is.A Medieval AU filled with a lot of magic, adventure, alcohol and most importantly:Red.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Dracule Mihawk, Dracule Mihawk/Roronoa Zoro, Platonic Dracule Mihawk/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys. Trying my hand at dark emo Mihawk here. Hope I don't fail.

“Mihawk.”

Red.

Red is a color. The color of blood, your blood. A dirty color.

“Mihawk.”

She’s there bathed in red.

It doesn’t suit her. Looks ugly. The axe she carries is also bloody red. Her white dress-your white dress is ruined. With a big red stain. You look disgusting.

“Mihawk!”

She looks sad, like she wants me to know something.

A bakery? You want a bakery? You can’t have a bakery. All we do is kill kill kill. I can’t leave. You can’t leave. How can we have a bakery?!

“Mihawk?”

Its red. Red is all I see. Her body is red. Her legs are red. Why are they red? Why only there?

“Mihawk!”

His hair.

His hair is red. It’s the same red. He spilled the red all over you. He ruined the white flower on your legs.

“Mihawk!”

Don’t look at me like that. With those tear-filled eyes. What do you want?! What can I do?! It’s too late for me! It’s too late for you!

Leave?

“Mihawk.”

Goodbye. I’ll never see you again. You’re leaving with those red stained legs and leaving me behind.

Oh wait. You’re under me.

You’re under my axe.

You’re bathed in red.

Did somebody ever tell you you look ugly in red?

Oh wait. I did.

Over and over again!

That’s why you’re under my axe isn’t it?

“Mihawk!!!”

I’m sorry.

Goodbye.

I killed you.

I’ll never see your white face again.

Your red-stained white face.

Red. Red. Red.

“Mihawk!”

I hate it.

I hate red.

IhateitIhateitIhateitIhateit

“MIHAWK”

I finally look down.

His worried face is looking at me.

Oh wait...his hair is red too.

Not bloody red.

Intense red. Passionate red. Bright red.

“Tell me Shanks. Did I ever tell you you look beautiful in red?”


	2. The Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dying isn't on his agenda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but it'll be longer next time.

Where the hell am I? 

It doesn’t look like home.

I don’t have a home.

Makes sense, so why am I not home?

Maybe because I left.

That also makes sense.

I’m probably injured in the head. With all this nonsense I’m thinking.

I touch the back of my head.

Shit it came back red.

What is it with red lately? Ugh, I need to get treated quick. I doubt I’ll make it past tonight with the amount of blood I’m spilling. But I feel weird. I can’t get up. Why is that, I’m only injured in the head.

I look down.

Oh.

Answer me memory.

Why the hell is there a hole in my leg?

Shit. My head is dizzy now. I shouldn’t be shaken by blood. I’ve seen much worse. Although it’s probably because of the fact that I’ve been losing blood for a while now. I don’t remember it being dark when I lay down. Did I even lay down?

Questions for later, I need to find a way to get to a medical center. Kira is still on my back which means I haven’t been robbed. Or maybe they just didn’t find it valuable. I press my leg, blood oozes out like a fountain. Probably shouldn’t have done that. Well, at least it hurts. Maybe I can still save it. Or not. I might have to get used to it being gone.

Walking isn’t the only way to get around. I dig my hands into the snow, it’s not even white anymore. My blood has stained it all. Red has stained it all, as per usual. If I can manage to move my other leg, I might be able to drag myself somewhere. Good luck that one still works. It hurts, I feel something inside but I ignore it. I have to get somewhere. I pull myself a bit and-

Shit! It hurts! It felt like spiky metal bars were being dragged all over my body. I’m giving out.

Get over it! You don’t have long left.

I drag myself north for a while. Every movement causing my body to lose more blood. Might’ve been a minute or an hour I don’t care but I see a house. It’s small but there’s light inside. If I can just make it there my chance of survival would be higher.

* * *

I like mixing the potions.

My mother always says that plants have magic.

I wholeheartedly believe that.

Like how sunflowers always seem to follow the sun no matter what, even when it’s dark outside.

That must be magic, right?

Mixing potions. A delicate process. You need lots of plants to get the right effect.

A moist environment to grow the plants.

Winter doesn’t help but I can manage.

It’s really cold out there yet my window is open. I wonder why? I’m squashing the plants necessary for a new potion I’ve been working on. It’s very late. Near 3:00 am. Mother says I should sleep early but I can’t help myself. I need to get everything ready for tomorrow.

Getting the bottle ready, pouring the mixture.

Done!

Now I can finally go to sleep.

Oh, right I haven’t closed the window yet. I wonder why?

I grab my shawl and head towards the window.

It’s dark, I need my candle.

It’s in the living room, I’ll go get it.

I feel around in the dark. Something soft, something waxy...Yes!

Matches.

Aha! found them!

I turn on my candle and-

“AHHHHH!!!”

 **“THERE’S A DEAD MAN IN MY LIVING ROOM!** ”


	3. Devil's Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wakes up in an unfamiliar place.  
> A horrible disaster and a mystery to be solved.  
> Update: little errors have been fixed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so I don't know what to say in here. I'm out of ideas. But I'll say this: I'll try to update this at least once every 3 weeks and if I get too busy 1 chapter a month. Don't worry though I'll make them long.

I wake up.

My head is spinning and all I see is a white ceiling.

I’m in massive pain and I can hear my labored breathing.

Must mean I’m alive then. Good. It would be a shame to die after I went through all that trouble to get here.

But that also means that however took care of me didn’t kill me. That is a good sign too.

I try to lay back down and rest when an undistinguishable aroma fills my senses. I look to the side and notice a rack full of bottles. The labels are written in a foreign label. That I fortunately wouldn’t need to think twice to recognize.

It was poneglyph. The witch's language.

Realization hits me and I look down to see I’m naked. With strange markings all over my skin. Over the lines is a green substance. It’s outlining 7 spots on my body, with the rest making a symbol on my abdomen. A circle with a lopsided V on the side. If you look carefully you may notice it isn’t a V at all but rather a very oddly shaped T. What sort of magic did a witch put on my body?

I hear a noise and look next to the rack.

There stands a woman dutifully crushing something with a pestle on a mortar. It doesn’t seem like she notices me, she’s too concentrated on her task. I use that as a chance to try and get up.

“You’re awake now.” she says, deep voice resounding in the room. My chance is gone now. Might as well see who she is.

“Yes, although I find it quite uncomfortable to be naked in the presence of a woman.”

“You didn’t seem like the type to get flustered by something like that.” she answered still crushing her ingredients.

“How would you deduce that?”

“I have my ways.” she finished up her task and turned around to face me, not even batting an eye at my nakedness, “I believe you have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ve seen my fair share of male bodies so as to not be intimidated by your sight. All though if you still find it unbearable, you’re welcome to use my apron to cover yourself since I threw away your clothes. Would you prefer that instead mister?”

I scowl a bit, unsurprised by her attitude. Women don’t usually act like that, but she is a witch after all.

“No need.” I snap.

“Good.” she smiles a bit before grabbing whatever she was crushing and putting it in a bag, “Now, I need you to lay back down. You’re still not healed and I’m afraid you’ll die a very agonizing death if we don’t finish treating that.” she points at my leg, were a hole is present in my leg.

The hole is totally hollow, going across my leg and eating everything in its circular way. Muscles and Bones included.

“How the hell am I standing.” I breathe.

“Lay down.” she repeats and I oblige, in a bit of shock at my leg’s state.

She looks at my face and breathes a laugh, “I’m sure you’re wondering about the leg. The answer’s simple really. Whatever hit you there made a hole; my medicine wouldn’t have been effective unless I drew a filling pattern. An outline for your artificial flesh. The hole was imperfect so I took it upon myself to carve it to perfection all night long. Quite a gruesome task but I managed to draw the outline and therefore your walking ability came back. Now all I have to do is fill it so without further ado...”

She opened the bag on her hands and dumped the mixture on the whole. The sensation of burning attacking my leg. As if I had to step on hot coal. I scream at the pain and she starts pressing the mixture into my leg, making it fill every nook and cranny. I want to kill her for the pain she’s causing me!

“You!” I can’t form any words; the pain is unbearable.

“Shhh Shhh. If you move around it’s going to hurt more.” she says softly and gives me a towel to bite on.

I lay back down still very much in pain but try to concentrate in something else.

As the mixture starts to glow on my leg. I pay it no mind, focusing on the woman chanting something I can’t understand. She’s tall, very pale skin and dark black hair that was slicked back with only two strands falling by her sides. Sharp black eyes outlined by thick lashes. Her whole demeanor made her seem intimidating but there was something familiar about her features that made me wonder who she was. Soon enough though she finished her task and stayed silent for a bit, frowning. The mixture didn’t stop glowing.

“How long will it glow?” I ask her.

“Give it a week to get the bottom layers down, so a month or two maybe.” she says before looking at me in the eyes, “I’ve never seen you around. Who are you?”

“I should ask that to you.”

“No, you are more relevant right now. I’ve never seen injuries of your kind before. Who are you and what caused those injuries?”

“I don’t remember what caused them.” I lie.

“Of course.” she says seeing through it, “well I suppose if you don’t tell me I’ll won’t tell you my name.”

I’m not going to be intimidated by that. So, I stay quiet, staring into her eyes, unreadable expression on my face.

She doesn’t back down. And we continue this contest until one of us gives out. Soon enough she smiles, pearly white teeth showing an amused grin.

“I like you.” she says, “I’ll give up.”

She walks over to a small door on the wall. She grabs a white shirt and some black pants and throws them over to me.

“Name’s Crocodile.” she says, “Edward Crocodile.”

“A reptile?”

“Chose it myself, I’ve always an admiration for the animal.”

“You mean it’s not your real name.”

“A name is a word you identify with mister. In my case it just so happens I didn’t identify with the one I was given.” she scowls a bit but her expression returns to that of an amused one, “Now tell me mister. What is your name? I’ve told you mine so you should return the favor.”

Fair enough.

“Dracule Mihawk.”

“Mmm...Interesting name. Now are you done? Here also put this on.”

She handed me a collar, with a... cross?

“Why are you handing me this? I thought witches hated the church.”

 _Observant_.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Yes, I do hate the church but unfortunately that cross is the only thing able to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?”

“Do you seriously not remember what made that line?”

“Line?”

“Look at your sides.”

I look at the sides of my body and-

Oh.

Outlining my sides all the way from my feet to my head are holes.

Smaller but still holes, it seems like those were what I thought were bullet wounds. Crocodile chants something and the mixture filling them turns transparent allowing me to see them clearly. They’re no bigger than a dime yet they’re perfectly shaped like a cylinder going all the way inside my body down to the bone.

“I closed them up as soon as I found you. You’re a lucky man Mihawk. Out of all the people that could’ve found you, you were found by me. The only one here that knows how to cure that.”

I look at them a bit longer before ultimately coming to a very obvious conclusion.

“These were not made by a human.”

She turns them back to black and smiles. Not amused nor happy, but with pity in her eyes. Fear almost.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Mr. Mihawk you’ve been marked by a demon.”

* * *

**Mihawk POV**

I look at the green slimy mixture in front of me.

“I’m not drinking that.”

“You have to, it’s for your recovery.”

“What sort of weird magic did you use to make this.”

“It aint magic. It’s green juice.”

I grumpily drank it.

“Wasn’t so hard was it?”

“Guess so.” I grumbled.

We were eating breakfast. I’ve been staying in her house for a day. She informed me that I had slept for 3 days after she found me in her living room and that I would need to rest for at least a week before I leave. Seeing as how I had nowhere to go, she let me sleep on the medical bed that day. We ate the food that I have to admit was pretty delicious although I had no idea what it was and then she got up and went to another room. She came back with a cloak and a cane.

“Here,” and she tossed me the cane. With very little consideration that I was bandaged all over my body. She put on the cloak and took out a brush and an ink jar from a cabinet. She lowered herself to the ground and drew a line in front of the door. The ink was a red that seemed nothing like ink. Blood probably. She opened the door and I followed, curious to see what she was doing. As she stood outside in front of the door, she saw me coming out and pushed me back in.

“Listen now. I’m about to put a witch mark on the door. Don’t come out until I come back unless you want to be killed. If everything goes right, I should be back before midnight. But listen-”

“What’s a witch mark?”

“It’s meant to keep any beings connected to the devil outside.”

“Don’t you count as one?”

“Well yes and no but listen. You are not to open the door to anyone, anyone even myself. These damn devils have found crafty ways to lure their prey and I am not about to bring more unnecessary attention to myself just because a man was stupid enough to fall prey to that. So no going outside and no opening the door either. Understood?”

“Understood. I’ll wait for you to come back witch.”

“Goodbye Mr. Mihawk. Take care.”

With that she walked away along the forest and into the town I imagine is behind these dark trees surrounding her house.

The house is dark from the outside, it looks old and decayed. With a short fence at the back separating the forest from the garden. The garden itself didn’t match the exterior appearance of the house. I walk inside the garden; I assume it’s okay to do so since I’m guarded by the fence.

As I walk along the neat lines of dirt, filled with all sorts of plants and vegetables her words keep coming to my mind,

_“Well yes and no.”_

What does she mean with that? Last I knew witches also counted as connected to the devil. I know my fair deal about them from my training in detecting them. Every witch had a witches' mark somewhere on their body, automatically linking them with the devil himself. If this witch mark was used to ward off the “energy” coming from these beings then why is it that she is unaffected? Is she really not a witch? No, I know what I saw. Poneglyph labels. But maybe I was delusional and saw wrong?

I walk as fast as my body injured body allows inside to the potion rack. Not noticing the being watching me. I made a mistake, she told me not to go outside but I did and now it knows I’m here, all it has to do now is wait. Wait until Crocodile messes up and it has the chance to take me.

“I knew it!”

These were Poneglyphs! She was a witch.

“So then. Why is she able to get through the barrier?”

* * *

**Crocodile POV**

Uncomfortable.

If I had one word to describe how I feel it would be uncomfortable.

With this hard bodice pressing against my skin, making me feel like I can’t breathe with how stiff it is. That coupled with the creature following me since I walked into the forest, meaning

a) I’m look really hot today so they want to bang me.

b) Mihawk left the house and they know he’s there now.

I’d like it to be the first one but I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

That idiot!

What did I tell him about not leaving the house?!

Does that man not fear death!

Or is he just stupid?

I wouldn’t call the man stupid but he’s certainly an idiot for ignoring my warning. It’s his fault if I get killed because of him! And I don’t want to die!

Admit it Crocodile, this is your own fault for taking him in.

But he’s the one who went and entered the house, I couldn’t leave him alone!

Well Crocodile you made your choice and now you have to deal with the consequences.

How to avoid being killed by a demon?

Totally a question you can ask anyone around here.

I’m not strong enough. I could easily get butchered if I let my guard down for one second. I don’t have the magic my mother does. If she were here, she would probably destroy the demon with ease. Seriously what’s taking her so long? She should’ve been here three days ago! And no word from her either. The letters stopped coming.

I know she’s alive, her vivre card is still whole. That must mean she’s coming back.

_Right?_

You’re getting ahead of yourself here! Focus focus! mom is not here right now and you have a man to protect!

Now how funny does that sound?

A sharp tree branch falls from above, right next to me, grazing my arm.

Shit.

* * *

“KNOCK”

The man puts his book down, irritated.

“Come in!”

“Sir! I’ve come with the reports!”

The man doesn’t say anything else.

“So? What are you waiting for? Bring them to me. This search has gone for long enough, you have should have found him by now.”

The man turned white.

“W-w-well...”

The man glared at him.

“Well?”

“We found him but we didn’t sir.”

“What the hell?”

“We followed a trail that left us in a small spring island but then...” the man swallowed, praying to god for mercy, “A report saw a man being attacked by an unknown source and he died.”

A moment of silence for the unfortunate soul that was assigned to be the messenger.

“Bastard left only to get himself killed. He was supposed to be smarter than that.”

The man sat back down in his desk and read the report in detail. As he turned to the last page drops of fell blood from his sleeve and covered a part of the page.

“Damn, oh wait what’s this...The body was carried into a house in the forest-

“Nathaniel! Call Lucci! We’ve found the boy!”

* * *

“RING”

The bell echoed it’s sound all around the room as I entered the apothecary shop. A giant alligator corpse staring down at me from its hanging place in the ceiling. The old man with white hair comes out and my lips curl into a smile.

“Crocodile dear what brings you here?”

“Mr. Boodle.” I smile and take a step closer to him.

A rock crashes through the window and almost hits the man before he dodges. The man takes one look at the creature backing off into the side of the window frame. Ready to listen to everything now that it made an opening.

“I see dear, now tell me is your mother back in town?”

“That’s the reason why I’m here Mr. Boodle.” I say.

“Good lord Crocodile what did you do to attract a demon in your weak state?”

I point to the demon with my thumb. It’s currently holding a knife pointed at me.

“Did you mark your bodice?”

“Yes.”

“Come inside.”

I head over to the very familiar room. It’s cozy and full of books. The fuzzy carpet covering the floor is enough to cover what’s underneath. A giant line with the inscription of a powerful spell is surrounding the room. Preventing anything demonic to come inside. This is the safest place in town.

This is the apothecary backroom.

Once inside I slump on a couch and take of my uncomfortable bodice. It’s marked with a pentagon on the back. Essentially the only thing preventing that thing from killing me right now.

“You probably shouldn’t take it off just yet. I sensed it was quite strong.”

“Come on you think it’ll break through this spell? My mother herself re-enhanced it. It will resist.”

“You’re not a full witch yet Crocodile. If we were to make a mishap you will not be able to protect yourself.”

“Yeah yeah, no need to remind me of it everyday. If I can’t be a witch it’s because of my mother and no one else.”

“She does it for your own safety.”

“You always take her side.”

Mr. Boodle looks at me upset. Yet his stare later melts into a fond one. I can tell he’s always looking out for me but I just can’t forget the fact that he’s partially the reason why I can’t protect myself. He and my mother were always against it. My witches’ mark.

A witches mark was essentially a deal. The witch in question makes a deal to the devil. Offering their service in turn for magic.

It is different from a faustian contract in which the individual sells their soul for a favor or for a demon’s servitude until the person dies and their soul is eaten by the demon. This deal is one of power. The devil will accept anyone that is willing to indulge in magic. Once the deal is completed the witch earns a mark on the part of the body of their choosing. Essentially linking them to the devil. That’s the reason why full witches can’t get through witch mark barriers.

It would seem like a win win situation if it weren’t for the fact that the price is a horrible one. In becoming a witch, you become an outcast of society. Forever hunted by the church and the common people, while running the risk of being sold to the rich in order to be a pretty toy. By becoming a witch, you accept that you will be treated lower than trash.

“I am ready for it Mr. Boodle. _I know I am_.” I say softly.

“Crocodile…”

“Ever since I was small, I’ve seen my mother be one and not once have I ever felt fear at the aspect of being thrown away by society.”

“It's harder than it sounds.”

“I know what it feels Mr. Boodle. I was thrown away once. Remember?”

“I remember it very well Elise”

“In fact, I remember it as if it was yesterday.”

* * *

_16 years ago_

_It was dark._

_With the thunderclouds covering the sky making it impossible for any sort of light to get through._

_Hail fell._

_Massive hail, destroying everything in sight. With not a single sign of rain._

_It fell, destroying everything in its path._

_No one in the history of the town had seen such a scale of hail before._

_The ocean border started receding. Slowly heading away from the island. Alarming every one of the disaster that was to come._

_A tsunami._

_Massive._

_It would tear the town apart._

_Swallow the island whole._

_Never in the history of the town did something like this happen._

_The island wasn’t in a seismic zone. A tsunami was impossible._

_How?_

_Why?_

_Unbeknownst to them they would get their answer later that night._

_“Prepare the houses!” They screamed._

_“But how?!” They panicked._

_They weren’t prepared for this!_

_“Then try to save whatever you can!”_

_“Where?! Its gonna eat everything up!”_

_The island was small. They wouldn’t survive._

_“Mommy I don’t want to die!” The children pleaded._

_“Then let’s dance!” Another suggested._

_“Dance!”_

_The danced around the town, with the musicians joining. Providing joyful music._

_“Dance! Dance! Dance the Dance of Death tonight!” They sang as the little children followed behind. Dancing cheerfully while they begged for mercy through cries._

_“Mr. Boodle! It’s a mile away now!” The young teen screamed. “We’re gonna die!” He curled himself into a ball in an alleyway, screaming to himself until he turned mad._

_Better be mad than be sane through this._

_“Shit! A mile already?!”_

_Mr. Boodle ran inside his shop, frantically searching for something useful._

_“Boodie…” His wife came behind him, bible in hand._

_She never went to church._

_“I’m scared.” She whimpered._

_He couldn’t look at her. Not like that. The once strong woman who even stood up to pirates. Cowering at the prospect of a horrible death._

_He had to do everything he could._

_He wouldn’t let this town be destroyed._

_So, he headed to the one place he hoped had the answers._

_The house._

_That small house deep in the forest._

_There used to live a witch that left her life behind to sail the seas._

_That woman was known as Croc D. Elise._

_A powerful sorceress that was rumored to be able to destroy sea kings with a simple spell. Story says she left to sea in order to find a better life away from all earthly attachments. A free life at sea._

_Not many news reached the island so no one knew what happened to the woman for a long time._

_That is until that fateful night._

_The night she came back._

_And not alone._

_Rummaging through all her old texts. And nothing speaks of how to stop a tsunami._

_Was it really that impossible that she deemed it unnecessary to research it?_

_The woman kept hundreds of scrolls in her house. On all sorts of things. Yet none were able to stop the disaster._

_Was this really fate?_

_Was it God’s decision to end their life this way?_

_“Why?! God why?!” Boodle cried out to the rain that started to fall. His will had broken._

_“WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS?!”_

_He destroyed everything in his path. It would be destroyed later anyway. When they all died. Hysterically screaming until night fell and they looked at the sea._

_That’s when everyone realized it._

_It was over._

_Not even God could save them now._

_Why?_

_Because they could already see the tsunami._

_They waited._

_And waited._

_But nothing ever came._

_No savior came to save them._

_“AHHHHHHHHH!”_

_The children were dancing frantically now._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!” The people started._

_Some threw themselves off their houses in desperarion to avoid it._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_They hugged their loved ones, embraced their lovers._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_They broke everything._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_Clawed at their skin. Ripped it clean off._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_Prayed to God. Hid in the church._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_It got closer. Less than a mile away now._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death.”_

_Fornicated in the street. Hugged their pets._

_“Dance dance! Dance of death!”_

_Endless singing ment to drive them to their graves._

_They broke._

_No hope left._

_Better just wait and die._

_“MR.BOODLE!” A voice echoed throughout the silent crowd. A familiar voice._

_“MR.BOODLE!”_

_The sound of rain was covering it but they were sure they heard right._

_It was Croc D. Elise._

_The witch._

_The one said to have killed sea kings._

_Could she?_

_Could she save their town?_

_“She’s here to save the town!” Cried a voice. Breaking the silence._

_“Yeah!”_

_“Ahhh we’re saved now!”_

_“Thank God!”_

_“Aahahahaha!”_

_“Don’t listen to her!” A hysterical voice cried,_

_“She’s a worker for the devil! Here to take us to hell!”_

_“What?!”_

_“That can’t be!” Cried a desperate voice falling to its knees it started to sob._

_“Then is all hope lost?” A cracked voice sobbed._

_“MR.BOODLE!”_

_“Waaa!”_

_A baby’s cry!_

_There were no babies in town._

_“Waaa!”_

_“MR.BOODLE!”_

_Impossible._

_There’s no way in hell._

_“WHERE ARE YOU?!”_

_From the shadow of the rain came a woman. Dark black hair soaked and sprayed all over her body. Dark under yes and most notably._

_A baby in her arms._

_Mr.Boodle came running from the forest. Frantically looking for the origin of the voice he so wished to hear again._

_The voice of the woman he raised as his own._

_His daughter!_

_“Elise!” He called._

_She noticed his father’s voice._

_“Father!” She cried._

_The two ran into each other. But before they could embrace loud thunder struck the ground next to her. Making her horrified. She started hyperventilating. Hysterically crying as if she were remembering something because of that._

_He knew a panic attack when he saw one._

_What happened out there Elise?!_

_The villager's cries brought her back from her trance. Suddenly focusing on the storm, she shouted,_

_“Listen everyone! I can’t stop this storm fully but I can reduce its effects! Hurry up inside and hide inside your homes until the storm passes! Close all the windows and don’t dare look out!”_

_“What about our stock?!”_

_“Do you want to die?!”_

_“Get to your houses now!” The mayor shouted, “don’t worry about material things! Your life is more important!”_

_The villagers rushed to their homes and shut themselves inside. Some taking refuge in the church while praying._

_“Father I need to do a protection spell on the houses!”_

_“How are you going to do that?!”_

_“Busoshoku! The spell of the color of arms!”_

_“You can use it now?! How strong can you make it?!”_

_“_ _Mine is not very strong but if I take a pilI from the Tamatebako box I might be able to protect them from being completely crushed!”_

_“The drug?! Are you mad?! It can kill you!”_

_“It’ll make me stronger! Please dad! I ran all this way! It's all my fault and I need to do something!”_

_“Your fault?! You caused_ _all this?!”_

_Elise sobbed uncontrollably, “I’m sorry!” She wailed, “I didn’t mean for things to go this way! He said he loved me!”_

_“He?”_

_Only then did he notice the baby hid under the woman’s bulky cloak. The cry he heard came from it. He didn’t understand what happened but he could tell this whole mess had to do something with the father. He also learned another thing._

_This storm isn’t natural._

_It was caused by a man._

_The baby stated at the tsunami intensely. Horror filling its expression yet it didn’t cry. It just stared blankly at it_

_As if it understood that it was caused by it._

_Her._

_Looking at it made him feel pity, yet he was filled with determination. He wanted to change its expression._

_Such a young thing shouldn’t look like it wanted to die._

_“I’ll do it.” He said. Elise’s eyes turning to him._

_“Thank you.”_

_\--------_

_Long ago there was a legend of a box._

_Legend told of a box filled with capsules that contained a powerful enhancement spell made by a very powerful sorceress It is said that the spell on the pills was so powerful that it even lasted centuries after the sorceress’ death._

_No one knows the location of the box, or even if it’s real. Some say it’s in the mythical fishman island while others say it’s up in the imaginary world of the sky. No matter what people said one thing was clear, the box wasn’t real._

_Yet somehow mysteriously the box ended in the hands of Mr.Boodle. No one knows how he got it but now he has it. And his daughter was eating the pills on the box._

_A downside to eating the pills was the aging process being accelerated. But Elise didn’t care about any of that. All she wanted was to save the town from him._

_This was her mess and she’d solve it herself._

_She tried to run away from Edward Newgate and learned why he was feared throughout all the seas._

_A baby cooed and she looked down to see the baby strapped to her chest._

_Yes._

_Her baby._

_The only reason why she was even alive right now._

_She loved this baby. Her daughter, and she did all the impossible to save her from the cruel life she would be forced to live if she stayed._

_But her plan failed._

_Because he noticed._

_All she wanted was to save her baby._

_Was that too much to ask?_

_No!_

_It wasn’t!_

_Because she’d do it._

_She’d go to hell and back to protect her child’s freedom._

_Because this child was not guilty of anything!_

_Unlike anything Edward Newgate would say._

_The parent’s sin is not the child’s fault!_

_And she would prove that today!_

_She was going to save this town and free her child._

_Maybe herself too if she could._

_But that was too much to ask._

_The enhancement spell was in full swing now. Filling her with unimaginable power. The tsunami had reached the shore ready to destroy everything._

_She gave her baby one last kiss and headed out to battle the monster._

_Like a knight in shining armor, she shone as bright as the sun. The only light in the whole island._

_The tsunami was dark and gloomy. Massive and infested with all sorts of sea monsters from all the blues._

_Light met dark as a giant barrier covered every single one of the houses, creating a giant dome._

_The battle had started._

_It lasted for 13 hours._

_For 13 hours she stood her ground against the beast._

_With every attempt the wave made in entering she would hold her ground pushing it back up._

_With every hit she received by thunder tiny holes would appear, water spilling inside._

_An equal battle._

_A battle of endurance._

_With every hour that went by their exhaustion lowering their strength._

_The villagers could only watch amazed as a single woman battled a monster of that scale. In complete awe at her power._

_Boodle could only watch as his daughter was dying bit by bit in an unwinnable battle. Tightly holding on to the child observing all of this._

_The child watched as the one who birthed her was being killed by the monster. Panic filling her being. Water. That was the culprit. That horrible water that was taking away her mother. She would grow to fear it later on. That water._

_And the woman watched as the tsunami was taking away all her energy. But she held on. She held on long enough for it to calm down._

_She held on until she could no more._

_It took less than a second for the barrier to break and for her to fall. The water fell into the town. Strong. But not as powerful as before. Instead, if crashed into buildings, took away crops, animals. Anything it could find outside. Took down some houses and dented the walls. Yet_

_They were safe._

_They didn’t die._

_The water could take what it wanted but they were safe._

_The storm had ended._

_Villagers ran out of their houses. Shouting in joy._

_“Were alive!” They shouted._

_“The storm has passed!”_

_They rang the bells and kissed anyone in sight. Because they were saved! Joy filling their hearts as they danced and sang together. Enjoying the clear sky and loud chatter of people. Praising the one who saved them. Thanking her for all she did._

_The town rejoiced that day._

_They hoped and their pleas were heard._

_A savior came to their aid!_

_“Sing! And Dance all you want! For death has left our door and now only life is left!”_

_Enjoy life for it may not last forever._

_On the beaches of the island lay a woman._

_She was bleeding with most of her internal body shattered._

_Yet in spite of all of that she was still alive._

_She was waiting for her visit._

_“Coo!” The baby rejoiced at seeing its mother._

_“Hey little one.” She answered._

_“Quite a thing you pulled off there Elise.” Her father said, helping her sit up against a tree and giving her the baby._

_She held the babe close to her as she smiled, “How bad was the damage?” She asked worried._

_“They’ll be able to recover. All because of you.”_

_“Mmm…I’m glad. Now I’ll be able to have a peaceful life.”_

_“Are you sure? Elise what happened?”_

_“I married the wrong man father. I couldn’t help it. All I wanted was a free life but when he took away mine, I tried to free myself. He blamed me for it, blamed my kid. I-” she tried to calm her breath down, “I ran away, but he-he followed me all the way and when I wasn’t coming back, he-”_

_“Sent the tsunami to get you.”_

_“He thought if I had nowhere to go to, I’d go back to him.”_

_“Does he know it failed?”_

_“I don’t know I- I don’t know anymore.”_

_“If he’s capable of causing something like that then I doubt he’ll just leave you alone.”_

_“Then what should I do?” the desperation on her voice started to show. She was breathing hard._

_“The tsunami did damage the town. If it was meant to destroy the island then once can guess something else prevented it from doing so.”_

_“What are you planning dad?”_

_“We’re going to fake your death Elise.”_

The town went back to normal after a lot of reconstructing took place. The villagers managed to get back up with Elise’s help. A ship came looking for her but with the help of the town, they managed to fake her death. The priest gave a fake prayer, a coffin was made and a grave was marked. They believed it and never visited the village again.

As for Elise. She lived out her life in secrecy and raised her child in the house at the forest. As time went on people started to forget all Elise had done for them. She and her child, now named Crocodile were excluded from town again and treated as witches. It didn’t matter to them though as they were used to it. They lived happily together with the intention of staying like that. Forever.

Unfortunately for them though life doesn’t work that way.

* * *

**_Back to the present_ **

“Crocodile, we’re not going to talk about that now.”

“But it’s true! I was abandoned when I was just a baby.”

_Why did you lie to her Elise?_

“RING!”

“What is it now. Wait a second I’ll go get it.”

Mr.Boodle heads to get the door as I stay behind at the room. A second later I hear a crash and he comes back running inside.

“Wha-” I go to see behind the door and there it is. The demon. It’s looking at things in the shelves, it notices me and smiles, while crushing a bottle.

The bottle says Crocodile scales.

I shake a bit and go back to the couch.

“What a sassy bitch.” 

Mr.Boodle sighs as he sits down in the couch in front of me, paper in hand.

“Who’s the marked one? I don’t see any holes in you.”

“He came into my living room 4 days ago, Dracule Mihawk.”

“The wounds?”

“Giant hole in the right leg-

“Giant? What made it?”

“Human caused. He was probably in a bloody battle-

“With who?! None of our towns people are good combatants!”

“Will you let me finish?” I glare at him irritated.

“Sorry.”

“Good,” I murmur, “Now, where was I? Ah right the leg...I cured it already. It’s the other injuries that leave me puzzled.”

“How? You said he was marked. That means a demon chose him as his next prey. Holes around the sides, right?”

“Yes, he was marked as prey. But you have to wonder Mr. Boodle. What happened that night?”

“Indeed, it is strange that he was in a battle before being marked. What happened to the man?”

“I followed the man’s trail back to where he was attacked. After looking at the site and the injuries I found three blood puddles and came up with a theory of what happened:

Mihawk arrived in town sometime around 4 days ago. Looked around for a while and then headed to the section where all the houses destroyed by the tsunami are, Old Town. Located right on the other side of the bridge. He was attacked by a man a few meters from the bridge entrance, making the first pool of blood.

He ran and initiated combat with the attacker. Then by looking at how dry the blood was I could determine he was injured in the leg at around 11:30 pm. The demon sensed the blood nearby and decided to head to Old Town. He probably saw Mihawk and thought him delicious choosing him as his prey. Since he was still battling the attacker the demon decided to kill the man, making the second pool of blood.

After that at around 11:45 the demon marked Mihawk intending to eat him. Making the third pool. Then somehow Mihawk managed to get away and ended up on my door at 2:00 am. That’s my theory.”

Mr.Boodle looks puzzled. As if he’s carefully considering what I’m saying. Picking every word apart and seeing if it makes sense. But I know the answer to his question, it doesn’t. It doesn’t make sense, that was just what I could figure out by looking at the site. But that was before I discovered _that._

“It doesn’t-

“Make sense? I know, and it won’t in a second either. I told you my first theory because that’s what I thought happened at first. But when you consider that a wounded man can’t possibly hope to run away from a demon and that he arrived at my house at 2:00 am. Two hours after the event took place. It’s impossible.”

“Yes, that’s very obvious to anyone. So where are you getting at?” he questions with crossed arms. Looking at me.

“I’m saying my theory will somehow make sense after I introduce the third injury. A carving.”

“Third?! Are you saying it’s an injury after he was marked?!”

“Yes. That’s exactly what it is and it wasn’t done by the demon.”

“Impossible! It would harm a demon’s pride to have someone else injure their prey after they’re marked!”

“That’s what’s been puzzling me ever since. I came up with a third and final theory to make sense of this but I need to confirm something before I tell you...” I walk up to him and snatch the quill resting on his ear.

“What’re you...” he starts.

“Shh. Watch.”

I know the third injury. It’s a very familiar carving. Of a shape I only saw once in my life, years ago when a group of three sisters washed up on the shore, running away from something. They never spoke of it and yelled at me when I asked about it, but I saw the mark on their backs. It was the same mark now carved into Mihawk’s head. And if want to prove my theory, I need to do something dangerous. I’m scared out of my wits now but I trust my mother’s protection barrier. It did keep a giant tsunami away after all.

I walk up to the doorframe, just behind the barrier with a quill in hand. I touch the barrier sending an energy wave and the demon notices me from the rack he’s looking at.

“Hey love.” I purr.

Let’s see how you react to this shadowy bastard.

I use the quill to draw the shape of the carving into my arm: a circle with a small triangle hanging from the bottom with three equal ones standing on top.

The demon sees it and instantly punches the window, I yelp and its hand is burned by the spell. It backs off hissing at me in pain.

“Love, did you seriously think you could go through my mother’s spell. How foolish. I would give you a recovery kiss in pity but you don’t even have a face. Or do you...”

It doesn’t answer but rather it taps its cheek and his head? (you could call it that) starts rolling around in circles, flashing a thousand different faces one by one. All glaring at me with a smug look as he gives me my answer,

**“I have not one but a million faces... _love_.” **

Bastard!

I was just about to give him a very well thought out and cheeky response that would for sure make his demonic ass think twice before speaking to me again, but alas it was not my day today and Mr.Boodle interrupted out interaction. Bringing me back to my very urgent topic.

“It seems the demon recognizes the mark; maybe wants to hide its meaning. But what is it Crocodile?” he asks while I look at the demon. I shift my attention to him but not before glaring at the demon one last time as it laughs in my face, going back to his rack to eavesdrop on our conversation.

“This is the mark carved into the man’s head, which leads me to my second and final theory. One I hope will clear up this mess.”

“Go ahead.” he says.

“Okay, now this is what I think happened:

After Mihawk was marked someone else came to the site. A third man. That man somehow got the demon to let him put a mark of ownership on Mihawk...” I start and look over to the demon. An apathetic expression on his face. Dammit! “...after that he carved the mark on his back and what I assume happened is the man got away.”

“Got away?! Are you implying the demon let it get away?”

The demon is laughing now. Unhelpful.

“How else do you explain Mihawk surviving? If both men have a claim over him then they can’t capture him. They would’ve probably left him there and he managed to survive. I assume the other man was killed since he’s openly following me.” I point to the demon; it waves at Mr.Boodle, he just looks confused at its attitude.

“In that case it means that we now have two problems on our hands. 1) we have to figure out exactly what happened that night. More specifically find out who were the attackers. Tell me how much proficiency does this Mihawk have in fighting?” Mr.Boodle asked, taking notes.

“I believe he’s quite proficient, his wounds were pretty severe yet they indicated he fell when he was marked. That’s endurance if I know it.”

“Mmm, tell me Crocodile. Do you remember having a fighter of that level in this town? Because I sure as hell don’t. We have to figure out the details of that night.” he scratches his chin as he thinks.

“Right.” I nod.

“That leads us to our next problem. How to deal with that thing.” he tilts his head to look over at the demon behind me, now intently listening to our every word.

“I was thinking of hiding Mihawk in my house and waiting until mother comes back so she can kill it, but...” I take a deep breath, “That stupid Mihawk left the house even after I told him not to and now that thing is going to try and kill me with every chance it gets!” I pout, my perfect plan was ruined. And I don’t even know the guy I’m risking my life for!

Just my luck!

Mr.Boodle seems to think it over before he writes something down and grabs my marked bodice. He puts it on loosely and heads outside the room.

Both the demon and I stare as he prepares a mixture on the counter. Amazed at his skills. I should be used to it by now. This apothecary is like a second home to me, yet seeing him like that. So, focused on his work and mixing everything with perfection is astonishing. The way he seems to know just what is in each of his hundreds of bottles and jars, even though most of them don’t have labels. And how he handles all the plants and powders with such delicacy. You could give this man the rarest of ingredients at random and he will make a concoction out of it. When he is finally done with his task, he grabs a flask of water and sprays some of it on the demon. The demon flinches and jumps back in pain. He chuckles a bit before entering the room.

“I’m sure he loves my holy water. Got is as a gift from the priest for curing his daughter. Never felt so inclined to use it before until now. Its pained expression is worth wasting this for.”

“You’re secretly sadistic aren’t you Mr.Boodle?” I ask playfully, enjoying the expression of agony the demon is making.

“Maybe, but don’t tell your grandma that.” he winks lazily, “It’s our secret.”

I giggle a bit before holding a finger to my lips, “Don’t worry, grandma will never know. God knows what sort of... _things_ she’ll do with that information.” Now it’s my turn to wink at him, the implication making him blush. Even as an old man he still got flustered easily whenever his wife was involved.

“Don’t tease like that, now here’s my temporary solution.” he starts, handing me the paper in his hands along with a black glass bottle. I open the cap and take a sniff inside and- no! That smells horrible! Why can’t mixtures ever smell good? I would’ve loved to smell lilies or something. But noo, putrid smell it is! I close up the bottle and glance at the paper. Red ink detailing a set on instructions on the usage of a masking potion.

“Masking potion?”

“For the man. I doubt the demon is going to leave him alone but...” he leans into me, using a book to cover our conversation from the demon, “If you fool him you can mask your presence with this.” he grabs the bottle from my hand and waves it around, “Can you do that? It would help make time until your mother comes back.”

_If she comes at all._

“Of course I can do it. Who do you think I am Mr.Boodle? I am my mother’s daughter.” I throw a laugh as I lean back into the couch, folding the paper and stuffing it in my pocket with my bottle.

“I can’t deny that.” Mr.Boodle says it with a cheerful voice but his eyes say something different. I can’t quite place the feeling but I see a tinge of sadness in there. I wonder why? An image of my mother flashes my mind and I grow concerned once more.

“Ne, Mr.Boodle. Have you heard anything from my mom yet? I wonder where she is right now?”

His voice catches in his throat and he throws a light squeak. He notices me staring and coughs into his sleeve, catching his breath. “I haven’t heard from her...” he lies and quickly changes the subject, “well would you look at that, it’s getting quite late. I doubt you came all the way here just to visit this old man, you should probably get going soon.” he stands up and takes off my bodice, handing it to me.

“But-”

“Here, make sure you put it well, don’t want you getting killed.” he’s talking fast and I start to get irritated.

Stop avoiding the question!

He helps me put on my bodice and starts rushing me out of the room, he’s avoiding looking at me in the eyes and I can tell he’s hiding something.

“Grandpa.” I say softly, hoping to get him to speak. Say anything at all! Not having news about her is killing me and he knows that. So why? Why is he hiding it from me?

What happened?

He looks distressed, but as always, he manages to avoid my question. He always does.

“You need to get going Crocodile. We’ll talk about it later.”

Expected.

I glare at him angrily before slamming the door and rushing out the shop. The demon stays behind at the shop looking at the door.

“Well, what are you waiting for?! **Come!** ” I yell at it and It grumpily follows behind, gently closing the door I threw open.

* * *

**Mihawk POV**

I’m staring at the mixture on the pot. The purple mush boiling up and smelling terrible. I take a taste and- Ugh! No!

I wonder why it isn’t working? I made sure to put a bit of everything I found in the pantry in there. That should make food, right?

“Mister Mihawk~ I’m back wa yo.” Crocodile’s voice singed from outside the door, “open the door~”

That’s not Crocodile!

She specifically mentioned not to open the door to anyone, plus I don’t remember her having such an annoying voice.

I put my wooden spoon down and hold the cross from my neck. Getting closer to the door I grab a metal stick she left by the door. Not like it’s going to do anything if I’m facing off a demon but I can’t find Kira so this’ll do.

“State your real name creature.” I shout.

“What do you mean wa yo? It’s me, hot witch girl.” he giggles.

What?

“Oh, shut up idiot!” says another irritated voice, sounds like Crocodile, “good to see you listen to at least _one_ thing I told you Mr. Mihawk. Now please step away from the door if you wish to stay alive.”

The hell?

I hear a bang, then a shriek, in a different voice, a more masculine one. I smell burning and then a bed crashes through the door. Crocodile steps in the house, smoking a cigar.

“I’m back Mr. Mihawk and I’ve brought your new bed.”

She whistles and four men walk into the house carrying a thick mattress.

“You can leave it on the corner boys.” she commands and they shout a “Yes Crocodile Sama!” before they dropped it just as instructed. They ran back to Crocodile and kneeled like dogs as she gave them all kisses on the cheek, kicking them all out of the house.

“Bye boys! Make sure you don’t get killed by the wolves!” she waves at them, “or vampires.” she adds as they disappear into the forest.

“How mean.” I marvel.

She holds a finger to her lips winking as she shushes me.

Interesting. I grin back at her.

“Now.” she claps her hands together, “I’ve bought you a bed since I guessed the medical bed wasn’t all that comfortable now, was it?”

I shake my head, “hard as rock.”

She smiles as she comes up to me pulling the bed.

“That’s good, now you’ll have a bed while we wait.”

“Wait?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you everything about it later. Let’s get the bed inside for now.” she takes a few steps before stopping and looking at me, one of the scariest smiles I’ve ever seen on her face.

“Get ready Mr. Mihawk. We have a lot of things ahead us.”

I look at her. Smile spreading onto me. I head over to the corner and pull the mattress on top of my shoulder,

“Indeed... I’m ready.”


	4. Orange Hair-Blue Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New memories start to emerge, and with new information comes more questions.

I remember it was days ago...

I had been in town that day, looking around the market for supplies to repair my ship. There wasn’t much around since the island was quite small. I had tried to buy several things but only after the villagers steered away from me with scared looks on their faces did, I take into consideration what I looked like. 

The escape had been rough for me, plus going around in a little boat meant water splashing everything and wetting my clothes. Add my dirty body with old torn clothes and I knew I for sure gave off the vibe of a lowlife. No wonder they avoided me. 

Guess I need to take care of myself first. 

I quickly went back to the spot where I had hidden my boat and washed myself up. Once I knew I was clean I headed back to town to look for the tailor’s shop I had spotted on my way back. 

“Hello.” I call out as I enter the shop. There all sorts of thing s in the wall, the most disturbing being the drawings of naked women sporting all sorts of outrageous and revealing outfits with distorted faces displayed like they were fine art, while the least were all the different types of fabrics rolled up neatly on top of each other by the wall.

A lady comes out, shoulder length orange hair, brown eyes. She takes a look at me and smiles.

“Well, hello there.” She eyes me up and down, the action making me feel naked which I was sure I was in part, “Your clothes look ugly.” she finally utters, “Do you wish for new ones?” the sweet tone she says that in makes it sound ruder than it actually was. My clothes were ugly, but she talked like I always dressed this way, and it’s not as if I have that a horrible sense of fashion. 

Right?

“Sure.” I mutter, walking up to the counter she’s at. 

“I’m in love with clothes you know?” She starts after an eternity of her staring at my face, “I find them fascinating. You can tell so much about a person just by looking at how they’re dressed.” 

I raise an eyebrow. This woman, she’s wearing absolutely white clothes. White dress, white shoes, white badly placed hair covering. Where is she getting at? I can tell absolutely nothing about her from her clothing? Is she a virgin or something?

“I can assure you I am not a virgin.” my eyes flick to her. How did she?

“I have a way.” she smiles, taking out her measuring tape, I blink. I’m inside the shop now. Wait, I don’t remember walking here. 

“How the-

“Eyes can tell you a lot about a person too.” she doesn’t acknowledge my question. Does she even realize what happened?

“36’” she finished taking my hip measurements. I don’t remember that either.

“The expression lies, but the eyes do not.” she’s on the other side now, writing the measurements down on a table.

She didn’t move.

When did the room turn white?

What. The. Hell.

I run over to grab Kira, unsheathing it and swinging forward.

“For example.” she shuts the book. The room turns into a chess board. She’s next to me, by my ear.

“You’re scared right now.” she whispers, gripping my sword over my hand, “Look at how your eyes are shaking.” she takes the sword from me. 

I can’t move, the knight in front of me starts moving.

“Who are you?” I ask.

It's getting close, she takes the sword in her hands, swiping her fingers along the edge. “Sharp.” she mutters. Her eyes travel downwards until she notices the crest engraved in the sword. Her eyes widen, face morphing into one of disgust for a second, letting all her emotions show. But then switches right back.

“No. I’d have to ask.” She takes a step towards me as chains grow from the square, I’m in. They trap my arms and bring me to my knees.

“Who are you? Man who hails from the Dracule family.” 

My eyes widen. How did she know?! The only way would be-

“You witch! Are you working for the tenryuubito?!”

Her eyes widen, a smile taking over her lips. Only that it’s not a normal smile. It’s wide, too wide to be human. With dagger sharp teeth visible over it. What the hell is she?!

“No. I’m not. But you’ve suddenly become all the more interesting.” she takes a step back to allow the knight to slide towards me. She’s walking back, slowly. 

**You should’ve thought twice before stepping in this island.**

The room starts to become black. 

**Son of Dracule.**

It’s starting to consume the chess board. The knight still coming towards me.

They’re already here.

The king and queen start crumbling.

**You’ve brought destruction upon us.**

The chess pieces fall to the ground, except the knight. Raising its sword. The darkness has consumed everything but us three. I try to free myself from my chains. She’s disappearing into the darkness!

**It’s too late now. You will learn your lesson. This town is not for visitors.**

She disappears. The knight swings its sword. Aiming at my heart. 

I scream.

**You should run while you can.**

“Oi!” 

“Sir! please wake up!”

“AHHH!” I sit up. A man is holding me by the arms. His shocked face breaks into a smile.

“Thank god.” he sighs. 

I look at him, confused. Where is the woman? I look around. I see the tailor’s shop. It’s open. 

I untangle myself from the man and run over there. I knock the door open and run inside.

“You!” I hiss.

A woman with blue hair turns to me.

“Me? Do I know you?”

It’s not the woman!

“Where is the other woman?!” 

Now she looks confused, “Other woman? I run this place alone.”

“Sir!” the other man comes inside. 

“You!” I go up to him, “How did you find me?”

“How did I- Why I just saw you unconscious outside and got worried.” he responds. 

“For how long?”

“How should I know? Look it’s already late. I’m glad to see that you’re safe but I should get going.” he says. 

“Late? It’s noon.” 

The lady eyes me like I’m crazy. 

“Um, sir?” she calls. I turn to her.

“It’s nearing midnight.” 

I drop to my knees. 

Impossible.

It was noon when I entered the shop.

* * *

“Wait what? Are you sure you remember that? It wasn’t a hallucination?”

“I know what I saw witch. It might’ve been the demon.” 

“Impossible.” she answered. 

“What do you mean? Can a human do that?”

“It’s not that.” She sighs. “It’s just that I know the woman who attacked you.”

Could’ve guessed it. This town is small. 

“Who is she? What about the blue haired one?”

She walks over to grab a notepad; she starts sketching out a face. Her drawing skills are surprisingly good. When she’s done, she turns around and shoves the paper in my face. I pull back and see the that bitch’s brown eyes staring back at me.

“That her?”

“That her.” I confirm.

She groans in irritation, “Nami.” She growls, “Her name’s Nami. She and the blue haired woman, her sister Nojiko work together at the tailor’s shop. They’re witches. Powerful ones.”

“Witches?”

Crocodile nods, “Don’t know the full story but I heard they used to be part of a powerful pirate group. Thing is, they ended up here a few years ago, runaways probably. They took over that shop after the owner “mysteriously” disappeared. Though I can bet 1,000 berries it was them.” she grabbed a chair and sat down,

“The orange haired one-Nami- is a powerful weather witch. But she has a knack for deceiving men with illusions. That was probably what you experienced. One of her twisted little games.” she grabbed the quill again and drew another face. This time of the blue haired girl.

“This one, Nojiko is her sister. She isn’t a witch but she’s a damn good thief. Both of them are. People in town call her a woman of many jobs. She’s willing to do anything for a bit of money. A master of trickery. A true witch on the inside.”

“Those two work together?”

“Yes. They’re practically joined at the hip. I’m pretty sure they knocked you out and kept you with them until night. But that begs the question? Why?”

I remembered the woman; she saw my sword and instantly recognized the crest. But what do I do? It’s not like I can trust this woman enough to tell her. I barely know a thing about her. Crocodile sees the doubt in my eyes, she’s a smart woman. I can tell that much. She’s not letting this one slide. She puts the chair in front of me asks.

“Tell me Mr.Mihawk...Why did she attack you? This whole thing makes it seem like you’re hiding something.” her onyx eyes are staring at me, daring me to lie, “Who are you Dracule Mihawk? What are you hiding?” she hisses.

She can be intimidating but I’m not backing down either. I’ve come too far to lose everything now.

“I barely know a thing about you Crocodile. You should answer the same question.” 

Her stare doesn’t waver. She thinks it over, as if choosing the right tactic. With a sigh she gets up grabs a map. She throws it to me. It’s a map with a circle on it. A small island, tiny in comparison to the nearest one, very far away.

“What you see there on the circle is Organ Island. You’re in Orange Town right now, located in the border of the island. It’s a small place, relatively new. We’re all migrants. 42 years ago, my grandfather and a group of other people joined together and came to this island as refuges from the king. They built this town as an unknown place isolated from society. The people lived a peaceful life here because they had protection. My mother was a powerful sorceress known as Croc D. Elise that protected this town from any dangers and kept the supernatural beings that took refuge in this island under control.”

“Can I assume she wasn’t very loved by the people?” I ask. I know the reputation witches hold in this world. Good deeds or not people fear them and reject them.

“You guessed right. But that never bothered her, she’s a good woman. She just wanted to help the town. That’s why we live in the deep parts of the forest far away so the villagers can’t see us. But one day she left the town in search of what she only described as man’s romance. That turned out to be the fatal mistake that led to the decline of the town.” she stopped for a moment. Taking a breath, she continued. Was she nervous? She was trembling.

“She met a man. A good for nothing powerful man who threw her away as soon as he found out she was pregnant. She did something to make him mad before she left and he chased her all the way to Orange Town in fury. Sending a powerful tsunami that destroyed half the town.” 

“A man making a tsunami?” That strangely reminded me of- “Just who is this man?”

“You don’t need to know. My mother managed to help subdue the water and the people helped her fake her death in gratitude. The so-called gratitude didn’t last for long, people started excluding her. She still didn’t mind and trained me as a witch. But she never let me become a full one.”

“I noticed you don’t have a witch mark. Is that why?” I said. 

She turned to me shocked, “H-How could you tell that?!” 

“I watched you bathe and noticed you didn’t have one, I also noticed you putting on a weird liquid.”

She tries to cover herself as if that’s going to delete my vision and she slaps me, “You pervert!” she shouts as a dark blush covers her cheeks. Interesting, I didn’t know witches could get embarrassed. Then again, she isn’t a real witch.

“It’s just a body. Besides how else was I supposed to clear my suspicions about you?” I say matter of factly.

She looks baffled, “Well you could’ve asked!”

“You were probably going to lie. Weren’t you?”

She stops in her tracks, trying to come up with a smart comeback, “I-you’re right. It isn’t exactly safe to have a scary stranger know one of my weaknesses.”

“Proves my point and answers my question. But I do have to ask what that liquid you put on was.”

“That? That was a masking potion I got from my grandpa. It will help fool the demon and blur his senses. That way he can’t detect me when I go out.”

“You’re basically preventing death from what I understand. But I don’t get why we’re doing this. Isn’t there a way to destroy the demon now?”

She sighed, “Unfortunately not. That bastard is very powerful from the looks of it and I’m afraid we’ll just end up getting killed if we mess with him. I also was thinking of maybe asking the witch for assistance but I can’t do that now since she did something to you. And I want to figure out exactly why. Nami isn’t known to just carelessly toy around with people. The only reason she’s managed to keep a low-profile is because she knows how to pick her prey.” 

Crocodile looks concerned. I can feel this situation is worse than I think it to be. If that demon is as strong as she says then I might just have to tell her everything I know. It’s not like I could’ve hid it any longer if I wanted to find out what happened to me anyways.

“You. Sit.” I order.

“Huh?” she questions me but does it anyway. 

“The woman, Nami was it? She probably attacked me because she recognized my family crest.”

“Family crest?” 

“The Dracule family crest. I do not know how she knows it but I can assume it was her pirating years that led her to be familiar with it. She might hold a grudge against my family.”

“Why would she, not like she knows you.”

“She might’ve lost a few crewmembers to our family, or more specifically the kingdom. I grew up on the kingdom of Kuraigana. And the Dracule family, are the kingdom’s executioners.”

“Executioners?! You mean to say you-”

“Yes, we killed anyone on the king’s orders, that includes pirates. I ran away from there after I got tired of the place but unfortunately, I chose the wrong time to run.”

“Why, what did you do?”

“You see, it is the Mariejois officer’s that are after me, which means my attackers were probably spies sent to retrieve me.”

“Mariejois is the most powerful kingdom of the world Mihawk. It’s either them or Laugh Tale, the kingdom they are constantly at war with, that will one day put us all under a world order. How did you, a mere executioner. Gain the attention of the god’s themselves?” Crocodile’s voice was slow, tone unwavering, she was trying to make sense of all the information given to her as carefully as possible. Making sure she didn’t miss anything.

“I angered a Tenryuubito and ran away, if they find me then-”

If I tell her that-

No. 

“My life will be ruined.”

She narrows her eyes. She’s doubting me and I know it. She doesn’t comment on me hesitating and focuses on the important thing right now.

“Good god. I’d pray to Enel to take me back to four days ago so I could throw you out into the cold until you died but I can’t...”

“Just- Who the hell angers a tenryuubito and dares run away???!!!” she’s rubbing her temples; she may be a witch but I can see the fear in her eyes. It’s natural, even the most courageous of kings fear the Celestial Dragons, the royalty of Mariejois. I was a fool to think she would help me after I told her this, it’s obvious by the look in her eyes that she’ll throw me out and pretend to have never crossed paths with me. All men become cowards once the tenryuubito are involved. I better just get ready to leave. I’ll find a way to fend with that demon, no need to get another innocent woman involved. 

With that, I get up from my chair. Crocodile got up and started pacing around the room, probably deciding what to do. I ignore her and start to look around for my sword, she still has it hidden. I grab my bag and a pair of her shoes, mine got stained with blood. 

“Have you seen my sword somewhere?” I ask to the room as I look around.

Her face turns to one of confusion, is she planning on keeping it from me forever. Afraid I’ll kill her?

“What for? You’re injured.”

“What do you mean what for? I’m going to be kicked out so I need my sword to protect myself. And it’s very important to me so I need it back-

“Who said you’re leaving idiot?”

What?

“You’re staying right here until you’re cured and we kill that demon. Then you can go around running from Mariejois.”

What the hell?

“But I thought you were going to kick me out. That you were scared of the tenryuubito.”

“Me? Of course, I’m scared, who wouldn’t be. But at the same time, I took you under my wing. You’re my responsibility now. And I wouldn’t feel good with myself if I just let you walk outside to a hungry demon. So yeah, you’re staying. And if you dare leave, I’ll chop off your feet so you’ll never move again.”

I hope my face isn’t as shocked as I am. 

“You’d do that for me?”

“For me.” She corrects with a smirk in her face. “That way I can show my mother that I can be a good witch and she’ll finally let me get a witch mark.”

Oh.

Well, I should’ve known, witches are pretty selfish people. 

That’s good though. 

“So, what you’re saying is, we both work together for our own interests?” I ask.

She smiles like the Cheshire cat. 

“Exactly, you get your demon killed and I get my witch mark. Sounds like a good deal to me. What do you say Mr. Mihawk?”

I grin. I’m starting to like this woman.

“I don’t see a problem with it.”

To others we would look like smiling idiots, but to us. It’s the sealing of a deal. 

“I’m glad you agree. Now let’s get to work.”

* * *

“Help! A wild animal just got into my shop!”

“Quit the crap.”

“You’re no fun.” Nami the seamstress puts a pout on her face, getting down from the steps with a roll of cloth under her arms as she goes over to her counter. With Crocodile trailing behind her. She keeps the frown on her face until she puts the roll down and steps behind the counter. In an instant she’s looking at her not with the face of a deadly and cunning witch, but like a girl. Just an innocent seamstress greeting her new customer. Like a perfect actress, she puts on a wide smile and welcomes Crocodile,

“Good day Crocodile, what can I get for you?”

“Nami. Where’s Nojiko?”

“Straight to the point aren’t ya? Well too bad for you but my sister’s out of town.”

Crocodile raised an eyebrow, “Out of town? This is the only town; did she go to the forest? Because I haven’t seen her.”

“Mmm, you still live there? I don’t understand what such a pretty woman is doing in that gloomy forest, you should buy a house. I can help you; you know. Since we’re friends and all.” Nami winked at her. 

“Yeah, and leave me broke in the process so no thank you, but back to the topic. Where’s Nojiko?”

“You’re no fun.” she pouted as she observed her hands, “But she is technically out of town, she’s on that nearby island, the one next to this. There’s a town there, Syrup village was it?”

“That far? What the hell is she doing there?”

“Hell should I know?”

That seemed suspicious, Nami always knew what Nojiko was up to and vice versa.

“Don’t fuck with me Nami, where is she really?”

Nami bit her lip, that Crocodile was smart. They did say Crocodiles were smart animals, or maybe it's just because they spent most of their time together. Crocodile’s mother left town often, and since both of them were almost the same age they got along well. No that would’ve been a lie, more like they were both outcasts and happened to be witches, they drifted towards each other. Like that mean friend you just can’t get rid of no matter how hard you try. They just grew to know each other too well. Now the thing was to find a way to fool her. 

Nami left her waiting, went inside to grab two baskets and three metal tubes. She put the tubes under her dress and went back outside. Meeting Crocodile with a smile she handed over a basket.

“Want to go plant picking with me?”

For strange reasons Crocodile couldn’t say no.

* * *

“Have you heard, it’s tangerine season already! I’m so excited.” Nami was giggling as she walked along the forest path, observing all of the animals run around, Crocodile walked beside her, quietly observing her like she always did. It was their routine, Nami would always show up every single Saturday on Crocodile’s door. Basket in hand and ready to go collect things. 

And of course, she could never say no because even when she was just a preteen and this weird orange haired girl found her in the forest while she was sucking a frogs’ life juice out. 

She didn’t push her off when she got all excited about finding another witch and immediately got out that metal tube of hers and made lighting all around her, smiling like an idiot. 

She didn’t say no when she followed her home, asking her all sorts of questions on the way and installed herself on her kitchen to make dinner. 

She didn’t say no when Nami came back every single week to hang out, she came so often and every time she would question her about it, she would simply reply with a:

“Cause you’re like me.”

And she never understood it because she was so not like her. Nami was cheerful and loved to hang out with people and parties and all those shiny things and money. She loved family and she loved her sister, always bringing her along wherever she went. But Crocodile wasn’t like that. She was all dark and gloomy and hated people, and unlike Nami, whenever she went out to town everyone gasped and ran home, closing windows and doors. Rushing their kids inside and hanging crosses on their doors. Not like the bright Nami, who could manage to fool all of them into letting her into their homes. She would steal from them of course, but they never suspected her because she was just so- Perfect. 

So yeah, she was so not like her.

But that still didn’t make her refuse that orange haired girl. She was with her all the time. She was there when she giggled and laughed at the villagers, making fools out of them while she basked in their money. Or when she cried because they still treated her like a witch and took advantage of her. When they hit and threw all sorts of things at them when they found them making a spell in the woods. 

Hell, they couldn’t walk for a week.

The same happened to that sister of hers, Nojiko was normal. As normal as a burglar was. Nobody hit her because they were afraid of what Nami would do but she still suffered a lot while trying to collect that obscene amount of money the two were so set on.

Just what are you collecting all that money for? 

She would ask when they were out collecting berries, doing the one thing that made them escape the world. Head to another dimension where they could cry out their problems. Because her mother had always told her that the forest would never judge them. Nature would always welcome them. She asked but never got a response. She wondered that until the 17-year-old Nami and the 19-year-old Nojiko left. 

They left and when they came back Nami finally showed her tattoo. It was a pirate group; they were supposed to buy back their town but that Arlong betrayed them and killed all the citizens. They all tried to stand up and the two had all their efforts crushed, they managed to escape with Nami stealing a boat and sneaking the two away from the destroyed Cocoyashi. 

Useless.

That’s what you could call their lives. 

Crocodile watched the human sisters turn into true witches; they had no compassion anymore. The whole town knew of their nature by now and they embraced it. 

Crocodile watched her two closest friends who once helped her open up become evil and meaner than demons. 

Still, she couldn’t refuse their requests. 

So, she still went. 

Every Saturday.

She joined them in collecting plants, the only thing about the two that still remained. 

She wondered if that was what losing your dreams was like. 

So now she stood here, next to Nami the witch. Trying to figure out why she would attack Dracule Mihawk. 

“Nami.”

The woman turned to her.

“I’m going to get straight to the point and you better answer.”

Nami didn’t say anything, just stared at her. 

“You never come out without Nojiko. And you didn’t come to see me this morning either, and now you give me an excuse.”

She could see the woman’s eyes start to tear up. Why?

“Where is Nojiko?”

Nami turned around and grabbed a tangerine. It seemed like she was sobbing. Sobbing hardly, Crocodile felt a pang of hurt. Like she understood what happened, the reason why Nojiko was nowhere to be found. She could feel herself starting to tear up too when she was hit by a laugh. 

It was quiet at first, like a chuckle. But then it turned loud, like an all-out cackle mixed with what seemed to be chocking sounds. She stepped back as she ran out of breath. Stilling as she looked back at Crocodile with an emotionless stare. Waterfalls staining her pretty face.

“Nojiko?” She asked bitterly, “Nojiko’s dead.”

**Author's Note:**

> New chapter to come out soon!


End file.
